FACTS which contradict what is taught in the universities and which even run counter to the assumptions made by critics of misandry.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Marie Besnard, French “Queen of Poisoners” - 1949

FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 4): Accused
of poisoning her mother, Marie Besnard, a 53-year-old widow leaves the Palace
of Justice, Poitiers, France, under the watchful eye of a gendarme. She is
alleged to have poisoned 13 relatives for their money.

FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 4): Poitiers, France – Mme. Marie
Besnard, a 54-year-old widow accused of dispatching 11 victims with poison in
the last 25 years, went on trial today for murder

~ ADVANCE BILLING ~

Her court session had advance billing as one of the most
sensational in France since “Bluebeard” Henri Desire Landru was convicted in
1921 of taking an equal toll of lady lovers.

The state charges that the stout, bespectacled Mme. Besnard
counted her parents and two husbands among her victims. She has denied all
murder charges and has six lawyers to defend her.

The trial, in the justice palace where Joan of Arc was
questioned five centuries ago by a committee of bishops, is expected to last a
week. Some 100 witnesses are to be heard.

In a preview appearance yesterday, to answer a forgery
charge, Mme. Besnard pouted when the judge insisted she give straight answers.

~ NOT SOLID GOLD ~

“Some people call you vicious and a liar. Other testimony
shows you were a decent, well-behaved woman without blame. What have you to
say?
“ he asked.

The widow replied: “I’m not a solid piece of gold.”

She was found guilty of forging a postal cheque for about
$26 to defraud an old, illiterate aunt. The court let her off with a $34 fine
and suspended her two-year sentence – and set the stage for the murder charges.

Of seven witnesses called in the forgery trial, none had a
bad word for her. It was sais she had a reputation for piety and charity.

A local psychology professor was asked his opinion.

“I don’t know,” he mused. “She must have been all right when
she was young, and even now she doesn’t look so bad.”

FULL
TEXT (Article 3 of 4): Paris. – One of the longest serials in French criminal
history opens its third installment soon when Marie Besnard goes on trial
accused of poisoning her father and mother, second husband, father-in-law, a
cousin and a neighbor.

Madame
Besnard, nicknamed “the good old lady of Loudun” – her home town – appeared at
her first trial in 1952. The trial was adjourned after six days of hearing in
which her guilt could not be proven.

The
second trial, two years later, also was adjourned, the court laving decided
that further instigation was necessary and that toxicologists had to make a
fresh evaluation.

Madame
Besnard was held in jail for four and hall years. Released on bail, she went
back to Loudun where she managed to live down the scandal.

This
third trial is expected to last weeks, at the end of which she will be declared
guilty or not.

The
verdict hinges largely on experts’ conclusions as to whether arsenic found in
the corpses of Madame Besnard’s friends and relations originated from natural
sources in the soil or was given to them by the accused.

Marie
Besnard has always denied having had anything to do with the deaths. The
confidence and calm she displays has baffled juries.

FULL
TEXT (Article 4 of 4): Bordeaux, France, Dec. 12 – A jury Tuesday acquitted
Marie Besnard, 62-year-old widow, of a charge of poisoning 11 relatives. It was
the third trial since the case was first opened in 1949.

The
two previous trials were stopped before the case got to the jury because of disputes about the arsenic content
found in the exhumed bodies.

For
each trial a new panel of scientific experts was named. Almost all the experts
agreed that the bodies contained an unusual amount of arsenic, but the
prosecution never was able to prove Mme. Besnard was responsible.

No
motive ever was established for the alleged murders, but the prosecution
claimed Mme. Besnard had benefited from inheritances in every case.